Finished Seeing a Ghost from the Past

Letting Broen go, Zora finally and gently pulled back and out of the embrace. Her face was somewhat of a mess now, her mascara had, despite being waterproof, run a little and her eyes were red.

"Thank you," she told him awkwardly as she wiped her eyes with her thumbs, very aware that she probably looked like a real mess.

"I am very grateful for your kindness, and for your insight on my ex," she told him softly as she looked at Broen-Crawford and after a second just shook her head. It was still very surreal that there was another Broen walking around.

"I'm not usually like this," she explained with a wan smile, slightly embarrassed that she had broken down like she had. "Though I guess seeing your deceased boyfriend alive would make anyone do a doubletake."

"No. Don't. Sometimes words are more than enough," Zora said as she stared for a moment into the distance before looking at Broen again. "You've given me something nobody else has been able to, not even my therapist. A weird sort of understanding and forgiveness."

"I have spent so long blaming myself, thinking I could have saved him. I even felt at times that others were blaming me for what happened," she confessed quietly as she looked down at her hands.

"The mind can be such an awful enemy," she sighed, though in truth she was feeling so much lighter like a huge stone was lifted from her shoulders.

Listening then to Broen's pep talk, Zora smiled when he call her a bitch, and then realised what he had done and quickly apologize for it, all of which actully made her laugh.

"It's fine," she reassured him. "Gods know I have been called worse," she told him, not at all offended.

"Also, just so you know, I do understand how you must feel waking up here all alone," she said, seguewaying back to his earlier comment. "And if I can do anything to help, even if it's just a friendly ear, I'd be happy to help out," she offered very sincerely.

Zoraida simply nodded in understanding. She was not really all that surprised that he had already run into Jude. In her opinion, fate seemed to work in extremely odd ways on this island, and it was almost like it was better to just accept that one should expect the unexpected.

"I look forward to it," Zora said, and she did mean it. It had been nice talking to this Broen. It was sort of like talking to the old Broen's twin brother.

"I am going to give you my business card just in case you need it," she said as she took a small silver embossed card of good cardstock out of her wallet, and wrote something on the back.

"Here's my business number, and this is my cell," she explained as she held a Woodlands Imports business card out to him.

"I'm Zora by the way, " she said as she introduced herself.

"Sure, I'd like that," Zora told him with a friendly smile. "I am trying to not be such a workaholic anymore, or at least cut back on my sixty-five-plus hour work week," she admitted, not quite ashamed of this, but realizing that it probably wasn't healthy either to fill your life with work like she had been doing lately.

Hearing about Broen's job situation, Zoraida nodded thoughtfully. "I think for a lot of employers on the island it's sort of ... trusting your gut and giving people a chance situation," she said as she brushed a piece of hair out of her face.

"So many of us come from elsewhere that I've gotten to the point that I will often hire based on previous employment and if I think they can do the job or not," she confessed as she looked his way.

"I can't offer you a job at Woodland, it'd just be way too weird for me," she told him somewhat apologetically. "Although, if you are ever looking for a change at some point," here she dug out another card.

"Here, they are always looking for help," she said as she handed him a card for Forest Respite. "It's like a way house, but not. It's for people who are new to the island, or simply need a place to go, help, or are looking for a way out of a bad situation," she explained.

"It's fine, I should be okay," Zora said in reply to Broen's kind offer. "Thank you for the offer though. However, I really don't want to impose on you more than I already have today," she stated very truthfully.

Yes, it would have been nice to spend more time with this Broen, but she was patently aware that it might be uncomfortable for him as polite as he was being. Besides, she didn't want him to think she was taking advantage of him somehow.